Hit the Rhodes, Jack

Sadly all good things must come to an end, which includes this blog. That’s right, it’s our last day, which does not include much more than getting packed, getting to the airport, and getting our plane back to Paris. The first part of this all went very smoothly but just as we arrived at the airport I had a notification to let me know that our plane was delayed by an hour. Shortly after that another 20 minutes was added on. Slightly annoying, as this meant waiting at the airport for close to four hours. It was also very busy and there were not many seats around, certainly not for a group of six. So one of us had the genius idea to scan the departure boards to see what flights were leaving next, as this would obviously mean seats would be freed up. It was a Finnair flight so we loitered in the vicinity and when boarding was announced and we saw a group starting to rise we swooped, almost in their seats before they had moved, never have graves been jumped into so quickly.
After that there was not much to do but wait and have some crappy airport food. We decided against stocking up with smokes, booze and perfume from the duty free shops. When it was finally time to board we joined the queue, then had to wait ages while we waited for a bus to take us to our plane, which was literally 50 metres away. Then we sat in the plane for a bit and I think it was another 30 minutes added on to our departure time. So not the best start to the journey, hopefully the Paris transport situation will work a bit smoother.
But as I sit here on the plane unable to complete a sudoku, I have time to reflect on a trip that started in Paris, took in Amsterdam, and then some Greek islands. I think that the travelling life suits us as we love to discover new places and get to know them. I think the island life really suits us because the pace is slower and we just get to hang out and enjoy being together, and despite the heat a beach or a beer are never too far away. To rate the places we have visited I would say that Amsterdam I can take or leave, and to be honest that feels very separate from the rest of the trip, but Tate did love the Stray Kids concert. Santorini is very pretty in the villages and they are very obviously Greek with their white buildings and blue roofs, but actually the rest of the island is very rugged. Naxos was pretty cool and had awesome sunsets, Ikaria was much less touristy and so had a very different feel, one that suited me. Lipsi was my favourite, it was just so small we could walk everywhere we wanted to go, Kalymnos was my least favourite as it just felt rough, although when we got to the right spot we had an awesome day on the sea. Finally Rhodes, which lent itself well to puns but was very touristy but where we stayed we managed to escape all that. Having a little pool there made us less beach reliant so we could get our share of culture instead.
As I like to do, I will now include in no particular order at all a series of random thoughts/memories of our almost 4 week break. There were 6 very different islands, 6 very different accommodations, 6 of us all together, beaches galore, crystal clear water, tavernas, tavernas, tavernas, beautiful food, poor puns, repetitive jokes, melancholy sighs, beer and biscuits. Ruby’s awesomely long and detailed blogs, her secret guest writers, Euro 25 glory, family arguments, family laughter, Tate sleeping whenever she can, beach makeup, girls sharing clothes, the suncream routine, toilet paper in the bin, shit sharp, interchangeable tourist hotspots, freddo cappuccino, Alfa beer, too much plastic, not enough recycling, hot days, cold showers, that’s what she said, jet skiing, Allegra falling off, seeking a yak, cliff jumps, scuba diving, loads of Australians, 5 periods at once, the Hamilton brothers - Lewis and Alexander, everything being related back to F1, friendly waiters, slow moving waiters, flirting with with waiters, dodgy cars on dodgy roads, nary a cloud to be seen, amazing sunsets, the twins tanning, butterflies, giant grasshoppers, endless cats, a three legged cat, Greek yoghurt, feta cheese, cheese pies, Greek salads, pasta salads, selfies and 0.5s, my amazing family, my beautiful family, Jess keeping us positive and getting us to do new things, Jess zoning out occasionally, Leon’s getting larger, Ruby loves to pose, Lily loves to vent, be careful what you say to Allegra, Tate being chill, driving over Ruby’s phone, long travel days, ferries, no Ed, the caged tiger, living in the moment, loving every day. I could go on but would probably just be repeating myself.
So our adventure comes to an end, it has been everything we wanted it to be, even if at times the girls may slightly disagree, that is the problem with children getting older. But i wouldn’t change a thing, who knows if we will get to have time like this again. Every part of me hopes that we do, I guess we will just have to wait and see. Antio Hellas.Read more